Yoshiya "Joshua" Kiryuu (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
condescent) wrote2014-01-10 04:15 am
condescent) wrote2014-01-10 04:15 am
application for brave new world
PLAYER INFO
Name: Cappy
Contact Information: madcapjest@plurk
Time Zone: CST
Characters Played: None
CHARACTER INFO
Character Name: Yoshiya "Joshua" Kiryu
Character Canon: The World Ends With You
History: Here!
AU History: Joshua was born into a high-class family and manifested his powers as a Psychic-type Enlightened fairly early into his childhood - not a huge surprise, considering that his family had a history of producing Psychic types, but it soon became clear that his powers would become one of the strongest in their line. As such, he'd been under quite a lot of pressure to excel and bring further prestige onto the family name ever since he was young. He never really minded this though, seeing it as a small price to pay for the many opportunities he was granted in return. Sure, he tended to feel irritated at how stifling it was for his life having been essentially plotted out for him before he hit puberty (not helped by the fact that one of his few real friends was an Enlightened who chose to become a starving artist), but no more than a normal teenager in his situation would. And Joshua knew to count his blessings; despite his complaints, he was well aware that his status as an Enlightened gave him far more freedom than most.
All that changed when he turned fifteen. That summer, a disease hit his area of town. Nothing fatal enough to cause panic, but Joshua had been hit harder than most (it certainly didn't help that he'd never been the most physically strong of folks). Still, though the sickness left him weak and bedridden for a few days, there was no reason to believe he wouldn't pull through.
To this day, no one knows how the Gengar got through the wards. But by the time the maid spotted the shadow fleeing the room, Joshua's body was already cold and lifeless.
And that would have obviously been the end of it, except exactly seven days later - after the funeral rites had already been held and the body cremated - the extremely confused heir to the Kiryu family walked in through the doors once more. Dazed and disoriented, he remembered nothing of what happened, only the lingering impression of a vast emptiness and the fact that people kept screaming whenever they saw him for some reason. After the panic died down, the fainting couches put away, and the exorcists ushered out, it was unanimously agreed upon that this never happened. An embarrassing case of mistaken identity, a rumor gone awry, an exaggerated doctor's report - the entire incident would be swept under the rug and nothing needed to change at all.
Except things did change. Though Joshua had never been that close to his family in the first place, now he was completely isolated from them. Propositions for potential marriages halted, inheritance contracts quietly rewritten, and not a single person in the household would meet his gaze or hold a conversation with him for longer than five minutes. Moreover, Joshua had changed as well. The potentially immense Psychic powers his family had taken so much pride in had diminished to weak telekinesis. The family Ralts now fled whenever he approached, while the various Ghost-types in Union swarmed around him eagerly as a close friend.
But perhaps the biggest change lay in Joshua's attitude. Gone was the complacency to simply go along with his family's wishes and carry out his duties. Instead of being bitter about his death, he was actually grateful to it for severing the last of his connections to a life within Union's walls and for opening up his eyes to how stagnant and dull his life nearly became. He switched occupations from interning with the Scholars to working with the Delvers instead (quite conveniently as his closest friend worked as a Historian when he wasn't bumming around doodling shitty street art), hoping that the experience would prepare him for a time when he could explore the world outside of Union in depth.
His death and subsequent revival had caused one final change, but he wouldn't discover it until three years later when he looked into a mirror and realized that although he should have been long done with puberty and heading into adulthood...the face staring back at him hadn't changed in the least from the fifteen year old boy he'd died as.
Canon Personality: What a little shit.
Okay, there's a lot more to Joshua than that, but it can be pretty difficult to tell through the massive layers of pure obnoxious this guy radiates. Snobby, condescending, sly, and with an ego bigger than the moon he likes to drop on enemies, it's no wonder most people want to punch this kid within five seconds of meeting him. And worst of all, Joshua knows it. He loves to rile people up for amusement's sake and will deliberately be as annoying as possible just to mess with their heads. It doesn't help that he's also extremely intelligent and insightful, as getting him to share said insight is a nearly impossible task. Ask him a question and his response will be vague, nonsensical, and probably bullshit. It's like he gets off on being as unhelpful as possible while still never outright telling a lie. And getting mad at him will only egg him on; Joshua simply doesn't care at all how anyone else sees him.
For Joshua, everything is a game, including his and other people's survival. And he knows quite well how to play the game; he has the ability to predict and manipulate people so well that even if something goes wrong with his plan, he'll still come out on top in the end. He'll keep his enemies close solely for entertainment value; whether it's because he's arrogant enough to ignore the threat, or just doesn't care at all about his own life, is unknown (although it's probably a bit of both). There's very little that can affect his calm; on the rare occasions when he does show frustration, it's likely just an act. He also shows a great disdain for boredom; boredom means stagnation, and stagnation is one of the worst things that can happen to a city or to a person in his eyes. He's more than willing to break the rules and put himself in danger just for an interesting game and an outcome that hasn't been set in stone. He can be pretty capricious too; there's no deeper reason why he drags Neku into fixing up a ramen shop or solving the mystery of the missing microphone, but hey, why not have some fun?
Underneath the amused mask is...well, it's not much better. Joshua's level of cynicism puts even Neku's to shame. The plot of the entire game happens because he refuses to think that humans can change and rise above the negativity they've created for themselves. He would rather destroy his entire city and start over to prevent the corrupt attitudes from spreading into other territories than believe that there's still hope and potential for greatness in Shibuya. And he's quite coldly apathetic and ruthless when it comes to getting what he wants; he kills Neku with a smile on his face, manipulates him into thinking the murderer was someone else, pretends to sacrifice his life to save Neku's, and shows absolutely no remorse for any of his actions or how much they fucked the poor kid up. It's only after Neku refuses to kill him even after finding out about all his actions and with the entire city on the line that Joshua begins to realize that people really can change for the better after all.
Still, it can't be denied that Joshua does have his moments of maturity. Being Composer might have made him bitter about the general public, but it's also granted him a great deal of wisdom and insight into human nature. And while most of said wisdom has a pessimistic slant, he does occasionally slip out warmer (albeit cheesy) lines like 'Love has always been the world's best secret ingredient'. For all his comments about how people can't ever understand each other, some part of him has always believed otherwise; after all, the current Game, which he created the rules for, depends almost entirely on how much the Players trust their partners. In his own subtle, irritating, often unhelpful way, he does try to get other people to open up their views of the world; while he does enjoy riling people up and making them uncomfortable, most of what he says is meant to push them beyond what they are now.
So peel back the snobby attitude, the amused mask, the cold manipulator, the judgmental god, and you'll finally get to what may be Joshua's greatest secret: he's really just lonely. The price of becoming a god is the isolation it brings; according to the rules, the Composer can only communicate with two people until they leave the position. And if we take Hanekoma's account of his past to be true, he's been alone his entire life. He wants friends, but thanks to multiple circumstances - his ability to see the UG, the rules of being the Composer, his own prickly attitude and refusal to admit how lonely he is - he's not exactly great at making them.
Here's the thing: despite all of Joshua's many many flaws, he's not actually an evil or sadistic person. Ruthless and extremist, yes, but he does truly believe that his motivations are for the greater benefit for humanity. The years of godhood have left him bitter and jaded, and the events of TWEWY are seen almost entirely from Neku's perspective - the guy who Joshua has deemed the worst of what Shibuya has to offer. It's no wonder why he comes off as a huge dick during the game. Take him away from these specific circumstances and add some character development, however, and his attitude changes quite a lot. In the TWEWY segment of Kingdom Hearts: DDD (which takes place after the events of TWEWY so it qualifies as a possible canon continuation rather than an AU), we see Joshua without the pretense of being a regular player or a grand scheme in mind, and he's actually quite friendly. Still patronizing to be sure, but his comments are teasing rather than aggravating and he even goes out of his way to help the protagonists out. He even refers to his fellow TWEWY castmates as his friends - and while he's still distant from them in a way they're not with each other, he looks openly touched when they refer to him as the same in return. He'll probably never stop being a little shit, but at least he's working his way up to being a kinder one.
AU Deviation: Given that a great deal of Joshua's characterization in canon comes from being an omnipotent deity isolated from interacting with nearly anyone while surrounded by the mass of negative thoughts accumulating from everyone in his city, it's to be expected that Joshua in Union is going to be significantly different. While he can still be distant and hard to connect with, it's to a far lesser degree than in canon. Joshua might not be good at making lots of close friends, and he certainly isn't about to expose his true emotions to anyone without some major CR, but he's not going out of his way to push people aside either. He's also less likely to keep up an amused front at all times and won't be able to remain indifferent if something bothers him.
Along this line of thought, the lack of decades and decades of bitter cynicism has left him friendlier than his canon counterpart. Joshua's sense of humor here leans far more towards mischievous than cruel; while he'll still enjoy poking fun at people and no AU will ever get rid of the snide commentary, he isn't out to actually hurt anyone or toy with their emotions. He can still be manipulative and ruthless to a certain degree, but it's nowhere near the level that he is in canon. And though he'll never win any awards for best humanitarian, no matter what he claims, he's not cruel or coldly apathetic the way he can come off in canon. If someone's in trouble, he'll lend them a hand if he can...probably.
Finally, he's simply far more human in Union. He's not out to test humanity, nor does he have any vast knowledge that he can be an enigmatic little snot about. He might hide the fact that he's sort of dead, but it's not a secret he's going to lord over others. He can be condescending and judgmental of the general public, as he's not at all impressed with how routine their lives are or their disdainful view of the arts (for all the shit Joshua gives Sanae about his graffiti, he does genuinely really love music), but he'll lower the attitude somewhat around fellow Enlightened or anyone who's interested in changing the current state of affairs. Ironically enough, he has no patience or respect for the gods; he's not seeking a way to dethrone them (yet), but neither does he want to live bound by their rules and judgement. Though this may be a lot more in line with canon than it seems, as even then Joshua likely had to once dispose of a god to become one.
Canon Abilities: Joshua is essentially an omnipotent god. However, he spends most of his time in canon under a power limit, so this will just focus on the abilities we actually get to see him use.
- Telekinesis: His primary method of attack before his first level-up. Seems to enjoy dropping cars and vending machines on people (he can also apparently summon vending machines).
- Teleportation: Not of himself, but of his enemies; using the camera on his cellphone, he can transport his targets a short distance away from him, causing brief paralysis and disorientation.
- Levitation: He can instantly teleport up into the air and remain there until knocked down. He can also use this as a way to travel.
-Jesus Holy Beams: Summons beams of light/holy energy to strike his enemies. The more time he has to build them up, the larger they get and the more he can summon at once.
- Telepathy/Imprinting: Every Player in canon has this ability, but Joshua is presumably the only one able to utilize it without a Player Pin. He can also implant ideas or emotions into someone's mind, though it's only a suggestion rather than full-out mind control.
- Pacts: By partnering with someone, Joshua can enhance his and his partner's powers and health at the cost of both of them dying should one of them fall. Being the Composer, he's also the only one who can break a pact without the two of them dying.
- Reality Warping: Even when under a severe handicap, Joshua has minor reality warping abilities. For instance, when someone tried to shoot him, he not only easily stopped the bullet in its path but also materialized the rest of the bullets from the gun.
- Dimension-hopping: He can travel to other universes, but he doesn't have the power to return to his own without help.
- Kingdom Hearts Bullshit: He can create sleeping worlds from dreams??? we don't talk about kingdom hearts ddd
Enlightened Abilities: Joshua will be a Psychic/Ghost Enlightened with the Analyst ability. He's going to start off with minor telekinesis from his Psychic type and limited levitation from his Ghost type; he won't be able to move objects an average human wouldn't be able to lift and he'll only be able to hover at around six feet in the air. As he levels up, he'll gradually strengthen his powers and be able to use minor Psychic/Ghost attacks along the lines of Hex and Confusion.
At his first evolution, he'll gain access to his holy beams and be able to create pacts with his Pokemon to boost their power at the expense of his own lifeforce. His telekinesis and levitation will have gotten strong enough for him to easily move objects the size of cars and to fly short distances.
At his second evolution, he'll be able to pact with other Enlightened, and he'll also receive a major boost to all his powers. That said, he'll normally be operating under a self-imposed handicap and won't have access to this boost. When at full power, he'll physically change into a form that differs depending on who's seeing him; normal people won't be able to see him at all while anyone who's significantly lower in level will only be able to see a blurry indistinct form. To the Enlightened closer to his level, he'll appear as a normal human but aged up around five years from his teenage self.
Starter Pokémon: A Litwick named Elegy.
Notes/Special Considerations: I just wanted to make it clear here that as far as the whole not-aging thing goes, it by no means gives Joshua a longer lifespan or makes him harder to kill or affects him in any way other than his appearance. It's simply a side-effect of his Ghost type and being sort of a literal ghost, since part of his characterization does come from the fact that he's not actually fifteenand also adult icons are really hard to find.
EDIT: So as far as Joshua's resurrection goes (and feel free to tell me to change anything since I'm basically just BSing this as I go along)! Human ghosts have always existed in the Pokemon universe in some form or another; there are Pokemon that were once human (Yamask, Phantump, possibly Spiritomb), hauntings in both the anime and the games, and the existence of a Spirit World. Keeping in line with canon, where he was able to see the UG even when alive, Joshua in Union had always been more connected to ghosts than he ever realized. Similarly to how certain Pokemon will gain a type when they evolve, Joshua carried a latent Ghost-type that not even he was aware of.
This secondary type would only come into play under very specific circumstances. If he'd lived a normal life, he would have likely remained a pure Psychic-type. If he'd suffered an ordinary death, such as passing away from sickness or fatal injuries, nothing particularly special would have happened. However, the Gengar's attack was different; while his body was unable to continue functioning without the presence of a spirit, his soul was still technically alive within the Gengar. Like an evolutionary item, this state of half-life and half-death triggered his Ghost-type into manifesting and thus saving his life by allowing him to keep his consciousness. Without it, his spirit would have faded away and become part of the Gengar's lifeforce; as it was, Joshua was able to keep himself intact enough to continue struggling against the Gengar from within. It took him seven days to do so, but finally the combination of all his skills - his Psychic attacks targeting Gengar's Poison type, his Ghost attacks targeting Gengar's own Ghost type, his Analyst ability able to pinpoint the most vulnerable areas, and most importantly his stubborn refusal to ever lose a game - defeated the Gengar and allowed him to break free.
But his resurrection would not come without a price. Without a living physical body to return to, Joshua needed a lot of power to summon a corporeal form. This energy came at the expense of everything he'd worked building up for the past decade. Joshua had been lucky enough to manifest as an Enlightened early and to be born into a family with enough resources to train him; before his death, he'd been at a relatively high level with the potential for quite a lot of power. However, this would all be sacrificed to create a shell his soul could reside in; when he opened his eyes again, he would find that all of his levels and skills had been reset to the lowest they could possibly be. Furthermore, whether due to the trauma or simply because the human mind was never meant to remember what the spirit goes through, he had completely forgotten everything that transpired past his death. To this day, he still has no idea how he managed to survive.
SAMPLES
First-Person: in-universe thread with Sanae Hanekoma
Third-Person:
The gods of old have returned. How would you be judged if you were chosen as a representative of humanity?
I have no intention of being judged by something just because it has more power than me. So I guess the answer's a pretty terrible one, though maybe I can dazzle them with my wit and style.
A human has attacked a wild Pokémon who retaliates in defense. How do you respond and whom do you defend?
I suppose it'd depend. If the human's attacking a Pokemon that was actually powerful enough to put up a fight, I wouldn't interfere. Either they knew the risk they were taking ahead of time or they're a complete idiot, but they get to deal with the consequences on their own. We live and learn, after all...assuming they actually manage to live~. If they're attacking something cute and defenseless though...well, my Litwick's always searching for a new soul to feed on, hee hee. [He's exaggerating here - he wouldn't actually kill anyone unless they were really awful, but he'd be verbally snide and obnoxious towards them until they turned on him instead and then use that as an excuse to cause some pain.]
You are alone and bereft of your Pokémon allies, upon what strengths do you rely on to see yourself safely home?
My incredible charm and amazing sense of fashion, of course. [no he'd use his Enlightened powers but he generally doesn't like to advertise what they actually are. He prefers it when people underestimate him or don't know what to expect.]
What do you do to ensure we never again awaken the wrath of the gods upon humanity?
What a silly question. Why should we cower in fear all our lives just because some deities on high might get mad if we somehow offend them? I'm not saying we should enslave Pokemon again or go back to the old ways, only an idiot tries to repeat past mistakes. But whatever morals and decisions I choose to live by, I live by them because I want to, not so I can appease a creature I've never even seen. If it happens, it happens, hmm? Besides, I'm willing to bet that not even the gods are infallible. Maybe they should be worrying about invoking the wrath of humanity upon them.
No Enlightened chooses their abilities - and not all are Enlightened. What type abilities would you most desire to manifest and why?
I've got no complaints about being a Psychic type - I get to attack things from a distance without having to get physical or do anything messy. I wouldn't mind being Flying though. I bet I'd look great with wings. [And more than that, he thinks he'd enjoy the sheer sense of joy and freedom that flight would bring. His levitation's fine and all, but it's just not the same.]
What area do you seek to explore? The peaceful forest, in search of new, previously overlooked discoveries; the uncharted caves, in search of the unknown; or the wildest of mountain terrain, in search of danger, adventure, and thrills?
I don't see why I can't explore all three. Mmm, but I suppose if I had to pick one...the forest might be better for my clothes, but exploring territory people have already gone over before sounds like a waste of time. And climbing a mountain sounds like waaay too much effort for nothing, so that just leaves the caves. [In truth, if it's for a higher purpose other than adventure and thrills, Joshua wouldn't mind exploring the mountain - though he'd still whine the whole way up.]
Name: Cappy
Contact Information: madcapjest@plurk
Time Zone: CST
Characters Played: None
CHARACTER INFO
Character Name: Yoshiya "Joshua" Kiryu
Character Canon: The World Ends With You
History: Here!
AU History: Joshua was born into a high-class family and manifested his powers as a Psychic-type Enlightened fairly early into his childhood - not a huge surprise, considering that his family had a history of producing Psychic types, but it soon became clear that his powers would become one of the strongest in their line. As such, he'd been under quite a lot of pressure to excel and bring further prestige onto the family name ever since he was young. He never really minded this though, seeing it as a small price to pay for the many opportunities he was granted in return. Sure, he tended to feel irritated at how stifling it was for his life having been essentially plotted out for him before he hit puberty (not helped by the fact that one of his few real friends was an Enlightened who chose to become a starving artist), but no more than a normal teenager in his situation would. And Joshua knew to count his blessings; despite his complaints, he was well aware that his status as an Enlightened gave him far more freedom than most.
All that changed when he turned fifteen. That summer, a disease hit his area of town. Nothing fatal enough to cause panic, but Joshua had been hit harder than most (it certainly didn't help that he'd never been the most physically strong of folks). Still, though the sickness left him weak and bedridden for a few days, there was no reason to believe he wouldn't pull through.
To this day, no one knows how the Gengar got through the wards. But by the time the maid spotted the shadow fleeing the room, Joshua's body was already cold and lifeless.
And that would have obviously been the end of it, except exactly seven days later - after the funeral rites had already been held and the body cremated - the extremely confused heir to the Kiryu family walked in through the doors once more. Dazed and disoriented, he remembered nothing of what happened, only the lingering impression of a vast emptiness and the fact that people kept screaming whenever they saw him for some reason. After the panic died down, the fainting couches put away, and the exorcists ushered out, it was unanimously agreed upon that this never happened. An embarrassing case of mistaken identity, a rumor gone awry, an exaggerated doctor's report - the entire incident would be swept under the rug and nothing needed to change at all.
Except things did change. Though Joshua had never been that close to his family in the first place, now he was completely isolated from them. Propositions for potential marriages halted, inheritance contracts quietly rewritten, and not a single person in the household would meet his gaze or hold a conversation with him for longer than five minutes. Moreover, Joshua had changed as well. The potentially immense Psychic powers his family had taken so much pride in had diminished to weak telekinesis. The family Ralts now fled whenever he approached, while the various Ghost-types in Union swarmed around him eagerly as a close friend.
But perhaps the biggest change lay in Joshua's attitude. Gone was the complacency to simply go along with his family's wishes and carry out his duties. Instead of being bitter about his death, he was actually grateful to it for severing the last of his connections to a life within Union's walls and for opening up his eyes to how stagnant and dull his life nearly became. He switched occupations from interning with the Scholars to working with the Delvers instead (quite conveniently as his closest friend worked as a Historian when he wasn't bumming around doodling shitty street art), hoping that the experience would prepare him for a time when he could explore the world outside of Union in depth.
His death and subsequent revival had caused one final change, but he wouldn't discover it until three years later when he looked into a mirror and realized that although he should have been long done with puberty and heading into adulthood...the face staring back at him hadn't changed in the least from the fifteen year old boy he'd died as.
Canon Personality: What a little shit.
Okay, there's a lot more to Joshua than that, but it can be pretty difficult to tell through the massive layers of pure obnoxious this guy radiates. Snobby, condescending, sly, and with an ego bigger than the moon he likes to drop on enemies, it's no wonder most people want to punch this kid within five seconds of meeting him. And worst of all, Joshua knows it. He loves to rile people up for amusement's sake and will deliberately be as annoying as possible just to mess with their heads. It doesn't help that he's also extremely intelligent and insightful, as getting him to share said insight is a nearly impossible task. Ask him a question and his response will be vague, nonsensical, and probably bullshit. It's like he gets off on being as unhelpful as possible while still never outright telling a lie. And getting mad at him will only egg him on; Joshua simply doesn't care at all how anyone else sees him.
For Joshua, everything is a game, including his and other people's survival. And he knows quite well how to play the game; he has the ability to predict and manipulate people so well that even if something goes wrong with his plan, he'll still come out on top in the end. He'll keep his enemies close solely for entertainment value; whether it's because he's arrogant enough to ignore the threat, or just doesn't care at all about his own life, is unknown (although it's probably a bit of both). There's very little that can affect his calm; on the rare occasions when he does show frustration, it's likely just an act. He also shows a great disdain for boredom; boredom means stagnation, and stagnation is one of the worst things that can happen to a city or to a person in his eyes. He's more than willing to break the rules and put himself in danger just for an interesting game and an outcome that hasn't been set in stone. He can be pretty capricious too; there's no deeper reason why he drags Neku into fixing up a ramen shop or solving the mystery of the missing microphone, but hey, why not have some fun?
Underneath the amused mask is...well, it's not much better. Joshua's level of cynicism puts even Neku's to shame. The plot of the entire game happens because he refuses to think that humans can change and rise above the negativity they've created for themselves. He would rather destroy his entire city and start over to prevent the corrupt attitudes from spreading into other territories than believe that there's still hope and potential for greatness in Shibuya. And he's quite coldly apathetic and ruthless when it comes to getting what he wants; he kills Neku with a smile on his face, manipulates him into thinking the murderer was someone else, pretends to sacrifice his life to save Neku's, and shows absolutely no remorse for any of his actions or how much they fucked the poor kid up. It's only after Neku refuses to kill him even after finding out about all his actions and with the entire city on the line that Joshua begins to realize that people really can change for the better after all.
Still, it can't be denied that Joshua does have his moments of maturity. Being Composer might have made him bitter about the general public, but it's also granted him a great deal of wisdom and insight into human nature. And while most of said wisdom has a pessimistic slant, he does occasionally slip out warmer (albeit cheesy) lines like 'Love has always been the world's best secret ingredient'. For all his comments about how people can't ever understand each other, some part of him has always believed otherwise; after all, the current Game, which he created the rules for, depends almost entirely on how much the Players trust their partners. In his own subtle, irritating, often unhelpful way, he does try to get other people to open up their views of the world; while he does enjoy riling people up and making them uncomfortable, most of what he says is meant to push them beyond what they are now.
So peel back the snobby attitude, the amused mask, the cold manipulator, the judgmental god, and you'll finally get to what may be Joshua's greatest secret: he's really just lonely. The price of becoming a god is the isolation it brings; according to the rules, the Composer can only communicate with two people until they leave the position. And if we take Hanekoma's account of his past to be true, he's been alone his entire life. He wants friends, but thanks to multiple circumstances - his ability to see the UG, the rules of being the Composer, his own prickly attitude and refusal to admit how lonely he is - he's not exactly great at making them.
Here's the thing: despite all of Joshua's many many flaws, he's not actually an evil or sadistic person. Ruthless and extremist, yes, but he does truly believe that his motivations are for the greater benefit for humanity. The years of godhood have left him bitter and jaded, and the events of TWEWY are seen almost entirely from Neku's perspective - the guy who Joshua has deemed the worst of what Shibuya has to offer. It's no wonder why he comes off as a huge dick during the game. Take him away from these specific circumstances and add some character development, however, and his attitude changes quite a lot. In the TWEWY segment of Kingdom Hearts: DDD (which takes place after the events of TWEWY so it qualifies as a possible canon continuation rather than an AU), we see Joshua without the pretense of being a regular player or a grand scheme in mind, and he's actually quite friendly. Still patronizing to be sure, but his comments are teasing rather than aggravating and he even goes out of his way to help the protagonists out. He even refers to his fellow TWEWY castmates as his friends - and while he's still distant from them in a way they're not with each other, he looks openly touched when they refer to him as the same in return. He'll probably never stop being a little shit, but at least he's working his way up to being a kinder one.
AU Deviation: Given that a great deal of Joshua's characterization in canon comes from being an omnipotent deity isolated from interacting with nearly anyone while surrounded by the mass of negative thoughts accumulating from everyone in his city, it's to be expected that Joshua in Union is going to be significantly different. While he can still be distant and hard to connect with, it's to a far lesser degree than in canon. Joshua might not be good at making lots of close friends, and he certainly isn't about to expose his true emotions to anyone without some major CR, but he's not going out of his way to push people aside either. He's also less likely to keep up an amused front at all times and won't be able to remain indifferent if something bothers him.
Along this line of thought, the lack of decades and decades of bitter cynicism has left him friendlier than his canon counterpart. Joshua's sense of humor here leans far more towards mischievous than cruel; while he'll still enjoy poking fun at people and no AU will ever get rid of the snide commentary, he isn't out to actually hurt anyone or toy with their emotions. He can still be manipulative and ruthless to a certain degree, but it's nowhere near the level that he is in canon. And though he'll never win any awards for best humanitarian, no matter what he claims, he's not cruel or coldly apathetic the way he can come off in canon. If someone's in trouble, he'll lend them a hand if he can...probably.
Finally, he's simply far more human in Union. He's not out to test humanity, nor does he have any vast knowledge that he can be an enigmatic little snot about. He might hide the fact that he's sort of dead, but it's not a secret he's going to lord over others. He can be condescending and judgmental of the general public, as he's not at all impressed with how routine their lives are or their disdainful view of the arts (for all the shit Joshua gives Sanae about his graffiti, he does genuinely really love music), but he'll lower the attitude somewhat around fellow Enlightened or anyone who's interested in changing the current state of affairs. Ironically enough, he has no patience or respect for the gods; he's not seeking a way to dethrone them (yet), but neither does he want to live bound by their rules and judgement. Though this may be a lot more in line with canon than it seems, as even then Joshua likely had to once dispose of a god to become one.
Canon Abilities: Joshua is essentially an omnipotent god. However, he spends most of his time in canon under a power limit, so this will just focus on the abilities we actually get to see him use.
- Telekinesis: His primary method of attack before his first level-up. Seems to enjoy dropping cars and vending machines on people (he can also apparently summon vending machines).
- Teleportation: Not of himself, but of his enemies; using the camera on his cellphone, he can transport his targets a short distance away from him, causing brief paralysis and disorientation.
- Levitation: He can instantly teleport up into the air and remain there until knocked down. He can also use this as a way to travel.
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- Telepathy/Imprinting: Every Player in canon has this ability, but Joshua is presumably the only one able to utilize it without a Player Pin. He can also implant ideas or emotions into someone's mind, though it's only a suggestion rather than full-out mind control.
- Pacts: By partnering with someone, Joshua can enhance his and his partner's powers and health at the cost of both of them dying should one of them fall. Being the Composer, he's also the only one who can break a pact without the two of them dying.
+ Fusion Attacks: While under a pact, Joshua and his partner can access far stronger special attacks than normal. Depending on how well they work together, this can range from summoning bigger vending machines to creating fire and ice storms to dropping a meteor on earth.
- Reality Warping: Even when under a severe handicap, Joshua has minor reality warping abilities. For instance, when someone tried to shoot him, he not only easily stopped the bullet in its path but also materialized the rest of the bullets from the gun.
- Dimension-hopping: He can travel to other universes, but he doesn't have the power to return to his own without help.
- Kingdom Hearts Bullshit: He can create sleeping worlds from dreams??? we don't talk about kingdom hearts ddd
Enlightened Abilities: Joshua will be a Psychic/Ghost Enlightened with the Analyst ability. He's going to start off with minor telekinesis from his Psychic type and limited levitation from his Ghost type; he won't be able to move objects an average human wouldn't be able to lift and he'll only be able to hover at around six feet in the air. As he levels up, he'll gradually strengthen his powers and be able to use minor Psychic/Ghost attacks along the lines of Hex and Confusion.
At his first evolution, he'll gain access to his holy beams and be able to create pacts with his Pokemon to boost their power at the expense of his own lifeforce. His telekinesis and levitation will have gotten strong enough for him to easily move objects the size of cars and to fly short distances.
At his second evolution, he'll be able to pact with other Enlightened, and he'll also receive a major boost to all his powers. That said, he'll normally be operating under a self-imposed handicap and won't have access to this boost. When at full power, he'll physically change into a form that differs depending on who's seeing him; normal people won't be able to see him at all while anyone who's significantly lower in level will only be able to see a blurry indistinct form. To the Enlightened closer to his level, he'll appear as a normal human but aged up around five years from his teenage self.
Starter Pokémon: A Litwick named Elegy.
Notes/Special Considerations: I just wanted to make it clear here that as far as the whole not-aging thing goes, it by no means gives Joshua a longer lifespan or makes him harder to kill or affects him in any way other than his appearance. It's simply a side-effect of his Ghost type and being sort of a literal ghost, since part of his characterization does come from the fact that he's not actually fifteen
EDIT: So as far as Joshua's resurrection goes (and feel free to tell me to change anything since I'm basically just BSing this as I go along)! Human ghosts have always existed in the Pokemon universe in some form or another; there are Pokemon that were once human (Yamask, Phantump, possibly Spiritomb), hauntings in both the anime and the games, and the existence of a Spirit World. Keeping in line with canon, where he was able to see the UG even when alive, Joshua in Union had always been more connected to ghosts than he ever realized. Similarly to how certain Pokemon will gain a type when they evolve, Joshua carried a latent Ghost-type that not even he was aware of.
This secondary type would only come into play under very specific circumstances. If he'd lived a normal life, he would have likely remained a pure Psychic-type. If he'd suffered an ordinary death, such as passing away from sickness or fatal injuries, nothing particularly special would have happened. However, the Gengar's attack was different; while his body was unable to continue functioning without the presence of a spirit, his soul was still technically alive within the Gengar. Like an evolutionary item, this state of half-life and half-death triggered his Ghost-type into manifesting and thus saving his life by allowing him to keep his consciousness. Without it, his spirit would have faded away and become part of the Gengar's lifeforce; as it was, Joshua was able to keep himself intact enough to continue struggling against the Gengar from within. It took him seven days to do so, but finally the combination of all his skills - his Psychic attacks targeting Gengar's Poison type, his Ghost attacks targeting Gengar's own Ghost type, his Analyst ability able to pinpoint the most vulnerable areas, and most importantly his stubborn refusal to ever lose a game - defeated the Gengar and allowed him to break free.
But his resurrection would not come without a price. Without a living physical body to return to, Joshua needed a lot of power to summon a corporeal form. This energy came at the expense of everything he'd worked building up for the past decade. Joshua had been lucky enough to manifest as an Enlightened early and to be born into a family with enough resources to train him; before his death, he'd been at a relatively high level with the potential for quite a lot of power. However, this would all be sacrificed to create a shell his soul could reside in; when he opened his eyes again, he would find that all of his levels and skills had been reset to the lowest they could possibly be. Furthermore, whether due to the trauma or simply because the human mind was never meant to remember what the spirit goes through, he had completely forgotten everything that transpired past his death. To this day, he still has no idea how he managed to survive.
SAMPLES
First-Person: in-universe thread with Sanae Hanekoma
Third-Person:
The gods of old have returned. How would you be judged if you were chosen as a representative of humanity?
I have no intention of being judged by something just because it has more power than me. So I guess the answer's a pretty terrible one, though maybe I can dazzle them with my wit and style.
A human has attacked a wild Pokémon who retaliates in defense. How do you respond and whom do you defend?
I suppose it'd depend. If the human's attacking a Pokemon that was actually powerful enough to put up a fight, I wouldn't interfere. Either they knew the risk they were taking ahead of time or they're a complete idiot, but they get to deal with the consequences on their own. We live and learn, after all...assuming they actually manage to live~. If they're attacking something cute and defenseless though...well, my Litwick's always searching for a new soul to feed on, hee hee. [He's exaggerating here - he wouldn't actually kill anyone unless they were really awful, but he'd be verbally snide and obnoxious towards them until they turned on him instead and then use that as an excuse to cause some pain.]
You are alone and bereft of your Pokémon allies, upon what strengths do you rely on to see yourself safely home?
My incredible charm and amazing sense of fashion, of course. [no he'd use his Enlightened powers but he generally doesn't like to advertise what they actually are. He prefers it when people underestimate him or don't know what to expect.]
What do you do to ensure we never again awaken the wrath of the gods upon humanity?
What a silly question. Why should we cower in fear all our lives just because some deities on high might get mad if we somehow offend them? I'm not saying we should enslave Pokemon again or go back to the old ways, only an idiot tries to repeat past mistakes. But whatever morals and decisions I choose to live by, I live by them because I want to, not so I can appease a creature I've never even seen. If it happens, it happens, hmm? Besides, I'm willing to bet that not even the gods are infallible. Maybe they should be worrying about invoking the wrath of humanity upon them.
No Enlightened chooses their abilities - and not all are Enlightened. What type abilities would you most desire to manifest and why?
I've got no complaints about being a Psychic type - I get to attack things from a distance without having to get physical or do anything messy. I wouldn't mind being Flying though. I bet I'd look great with wings. [And more than that, he thinks he'd enjoy the sheer sense of joy and freedom that flight would bring. His levitation's fine and all, but it's just not the same.]
What area do you seek to explore? The peaceful forest, in search of new, previously overlooked discoveries; the uncharted caves, in search of the unknown; or the wildest of mountain terrain, in search of danger, adventure, and thrills?
I don't see why I can't explore all three. Mmm, but I suppose if I had to pick one...the forest might be better for my clothes, but exploring territory people have already gone over before sounds like a waste of time. And climbing a mountain sounds like waaay too much effort for nothing, so that just leaves the caves. [In truth, if it's for a higher purpose other than adventure and thrills, Joshua wouldn't mind exploring the mountain - though he'd still whine the whole way up.]